


A Holiday Tradition

by silver_fish



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Christmas baking, Comedy, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Merry Christmas!, Mistletoe, Secret Relationship, idk where this is set and i am So Sorry if the timeline is fucky ashdjf, romantic games of mario kart for the Soul
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-11 10:10:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12933051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_fish/pseuds/silver_fish
Summary: "Just until the holidays are over," Raine implores her, but Sheena has never been the greatest at lying.Still, it'll take a lot more than some silly holiday traditions to make her crack. She hopes.





	A Holiday Tradition

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lostherlemons](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostherlemons/gifts).



> hey ahh i know our correspondence was kinda lacking (i'm so sorry agsdhjf i wanted to send more anons but i was incredibly busy and didn't have the time >.<) but merry christmas, laura!!! i tried my best to write something you would like with the prompts you gave me. i was never really a big fan of sheena/raine before this, but i daresay writing this fic has made me like it quite a lot. there's some background zelos/lloyd/colette in here, too, so i hope you like that as well!! i won't ramble too much, but seriously! merry christmas! i really hope you enjoy <3
> 
> (p.s. i Messed with like everybody's age to make my weird timeline work out LMFAO. in case it's not clear from the fic: lloyd and colette are one year out of high school, zelos is three, sheena is two, but their ages are Basically canon. presea is 12 and alicia is her older sister instead of the other way so yeah i hope nothing is confusing asghdjf if it is just let me know and i'll clear it up orz)
> 
> (p.p.s. thank you [karol](http://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicbubble) for beta'ing for me!! you're a lifesaver i swear ;__;)

“Have you started on your shopping yet?”

Sheena doesn’t look up from her textbook, but she lets out a small sigh. “Zelos,” she says tiredly, “you know it’s only the second week of December, right?”

“Never too early to start,” he says brightly. “But since you _haven’t_ started yet, you might want to take a look my list.” He places a sheet of paper over her textbook, and she looks up at him, finally, incredulous.

“Have you been writing this the whole time?” she demands.

“You act like you really think I would be doing my work.”

Well, that’s fair, she supposes.

_Still_ , though.

“Lloyd and Colette are gonna be annoyed with you when you have to cram later,” she reminds him.

He waves a dismissive hand. “I’m only here because you asked me to be. You know I could never deny a beautiful woman.”

Sheena’s lips pull down slightly. Normally, she thinks that this remark wouldn’t bother her. It is significantly _less_ lewd than other things Zelos has said to her over the years, and, at this point, she can’t really say she isn’t used to it, anyway. But something about it irritates her, in a way she doesn’t think it should.

And then it clicks—

Zelos, for all his terribleness when it comes to women, is pretty decent with respecting boundaries when he knows Sheena is in a relationship. Of course, this doesn’t apply to his _own_ relationship, but Sheena gets the feeling that flirting is basically just part of his personality at this point. Colette and Lloyd have never seemed too bothered by it, at least.

She closes her textbook, and he looks at her, alarmed.

“Hey, what are you doing? Don’t you still have homework?”

“It suddenly occurred to me that I have a lot of Christmas shopping to get done.”

Zelos is suddenly grinning. “Oh, I _see_. Well, I ordered everything for you—see, at the top is the stuff I want most, and then it goes down from there, but, really, I’m sure whatever you get me will be—”

“Who said I was buying for you?”

Zelos pouts.

“I need to buy for Colette,” Sheena continues, “Lloyd, Genis...Raine.”

“Well, I’ve already bought _you_ a gift,” Zelos says, sniffing. “But if you want me to take it back…”

Sheena rolls her eyes. “Do whatever you want,” she says. “Thanks for the list, anyway. You wanna go get some lunch?”

“Always,” he says. “Is that even a question?”

“I’m not paying for you,” Sheena says tiredly.

“Dammit.”

“You can help me do a little shopping after,” Sheena tells him, standing up. “You know Lloyd and Colette better than I do. I figured you might know a little better what they’ll want than I do.”

Zelos grimaces. “I bought Lloyd _pyjamas_ ,” he stresses. “The man is impossible to buy for. As soon as you ask him when he wants, it’s all about how he has everything he wants and he’s the most content person _ever_ , and then Colette is right by his side, happily agreeing with everything he says, and she’s really no better, but I was at least recently made aware that she’s running low on supplies and doesn’t want to ‘waste’ money on new ones.”

Colette is an art student, but she’s been drawing for as long as Sheena has known her. She’s incredibly talented, but perhaps a little too humble about it. She never wants to make a fuss out of things.

Sheena sometimes wants to _smack_ her.

But Colette is an angel, really. She’s the sweetest person Sheena has ever met. She just has this awful tendency to let people use her—which is sort of how she wound up so close to Zelos, back when they were in high school. For all he seems like an awful person, he has a pretty strong sense of morality. They were friends through mutual friends—friends through Sheena, who was friends with Lloyd, whose best friend was Colette—but it was Zelos that helped Colette through an especially bad case of bullying that she didn’t really speak to anybody else about.

Colette and Lloyd were always an inseparable duo, two halves of a whole. Zelos sort of fucked things up, but, ultimately, Sheena knows that all three of them are happier for it.

For a long time, she was sort of jealous of them, though.

Now, though, she’s far from jealous.

“Guess we’ll be doing some friendly bonding, then,” Sheena says. “It’s not like we have too much to worry about, anyway. No amount of studying will ever get me through this.”

Zelos laughs. “Don’t let Raine hear you say that.”

Sheena’s shoulders tense slightly.

“Well, I won’t tell her,” Zelos assures her. “Nothing to worry about. And, anyway, I’m sure she’s given up on us all by now. The only one she still has an ounce of control over is Genis, but he seems to have things covered.”

“Ah, thanks.” Sheena swallows, then works to gather up her things and sling her bag over her shoulder. “Well, what about you, then? Any Christmas shopping you need to get done?”

“Apparently, Lloyd and Colette think I need to buy a ‘proper’ gift for Genis. Whatever _that_ means.”

Last year, Zelos gave Genis a book all about “unwinding.”

“You’re always so wound up about school,” Zelos explained. “You know, there are some good tips in there about—”

Which was right around when Raine slapped him over the head and told him to treat Genis more like a kid, which made Genis angry, and Lloyd and Colette awkwardly attempted to smooth out the argument while Sheena chided Zelos for complaining about Raine hurting him, even though he _certainly_ deserved it. Really, it was a terrible situation all around, for all of them, though only a minor blip in their Christmas celebrations.

But Zelos later told Sheena that he wasn’t going to say what Raine thought he was going to at all. In fact, he said, “I was going to say that there are some good tips about nutrition. A healthy diet is pretty important, y’know?”

Whether or not Sheena believes him is an entirely different story, of course.

She sighs. “I can help you. He’s about the easiest person to buy you, you know. Just get him a random book about math or something. He’ll totally love it.”

“Yeah, and he’ll probably already own it, too,” Zelos grumbles, standing and making his way ahead of Sheena to lead them out of the library.

“It’s the thought that counts,” Sheena reminds him.

He seems to accept this as reasonable, and they continue on through the rest of the afternoon in an easy companionship. They get lunch, and then head to the mall, where Sheena picks up gifts for Lloyd and Colette, and Zelos finds something for Genis and something for Raine.

It is when they are just about to leave that Sheena gets a text message, prompting her to stop and check her phone.

Zelos peers over her shoulder, and she turns the device off and whirls to face him with a scowl.

“I didn’t see anything,” he says honestly, putting his hands up defensively. “You’re not _hiding_ anything, though, right, Sheena?”

“Why would I be hiding something?” she demands. “What could I possible have to hide?”

He coughs. “Like...my potential Christmas present?”

She stares at him.

“Okay, okay, _jeez_ , sorry for making a suggestion.” He frowns at her. “Seriously, though, don’t look so paranoid. I don’t want you snooping through my messages, so I _probably_ won’t snoop through yours.”

“I’m not paranoid,” she denies.

“Right,” he says. “And I’m not the most beautiful, amazing person in the world.”

“Are you sure you’re trying to prove me _wrong_ right now?”

He pouts.

“Anyway, we should get going. It’s getting a bit late. I’m sure you need to get home, right?”

“And see what kind of disaster of a meal Lloyd and Colette have concocted without me? I don’t know about that.”

“What do you mean?”

Zelos sighs. They’re outside, now, and his breath billows before him, a thick white cloud. “Well,” he says, “Lloyd may or may not have discovered an old cookbook from God-knows-where, and now he and Colette really want to try some of the recipes from it. But they’re a little...weird?”

“Weird,” Sheena repeats.

“Yeah. Like, I don’t know. Different, I guess. And the book is super vague. I’m personally not sure if it’s a cooking book, or book of scientific procedures.”

“Sounds...interesting?” Sheena frowns. “Good luck with that, I guess.”

“Oh, don’t worry. If the kitchen’s on fire, you’ll be the first person I call.” He shoots her a cheeky grin.

“Before the _fire department_?!”

“Well, yeah! I—”

“Shut up,” Sheena says.

“I didn’t even say anything!”

Well, he was _about_ to, she’s sure.

“Anyway,” she says tiredly, “thanks for your help. My list of Christmas shopping to do is looking pretty short, suddenly.”

“I hope I’m at the top of that list, right?”

She rolls her eyes. “Dream on.”

He gives her what is probably the saddest look he can muster up.

“That’s not gonna affect me!”

He gives a snort of laughter. “I tried, anyway. Well, see you around, then.”

He turns away from her without another word, and she wonders at his lack of comment as he leaves. Really, Zelos could never _lose_ his flirtatious nature. It’s as much a part of his personality as everything else that makes him _Zelos_ is. But there’s a difference to how it is now and how it used to be.

Still, though, the last couple weeks, Sheena’s found herself getting as irritated by the remarks as she used to when they were still in high school.

She shakes her head, then pulls out her phone to check the earlier message she received.

_Are you home?_

Her lips twitch up slightly.

_I will be soon_ , she replies.

* * *

Sheena remembers pretty well when she first realized she had a thing for Raine. It wasn’t _really_ that long ago—summer, she thinks—but it was right around the same time that she was starting to realize that Raine is far from than just a history fanatic, or an education major, or a professor-to-be.

Sheena met Lloyd and Colette in high school.. Sheena, one year their senior, got along well with them. In a sense, she sort of took of them under her wing. Zelos, a year above Sheena, never really seemed to want to be friends with Lloyd and Colette, despite being close to Sheena, until he took the action to help Colette, about halfway through the year. This was what managed to bring their odd little group together, and it wasn’t long until Sheena met Genis and Raine.

Genis was only about ten at the time, but Raine was closer to Sheena’s age. Raine, in her fourth year of university (“Yes,” Colette told her, laughing, “her fourth! Raine and Genis are _really_ smart!”) at the time, seemed _too_ uptight, and _too_ bossy, and _too_ involved in her studies.

But Lloyd and Colette seemed to love her, so Sheena never actively tried to pick a fight with her.

(But they argued, anyway. A lot.)

Of course, over the next couple of years, they argued less. In fact, they grew quite close, albeit in a slightly _odd_ way. They have been quite close this past year, and have discovered a lot about each other, but nobody else seems to even realize that they’ve been as friendly as they are (or, if they do, they don’t _say_ it).

Which is probably the reason they’re in this situation _now_.

About two weeks ago, Raine confessed to, in this awkward yet cute rush of words, and Sheena was quick to tell her the feeling was _entirely_ mutual, but there was a catch in their relationship:

“We can’t tell anybody until after the holidays,” Raine said. “Really, I promise; just until the holidays are over. I don’t want to make things weird for Genis.”

But Sheena’s sure the kid would’ve managed without a problem at all.

Still, she nodded. “I can do that,” she said. “I’m a _master_ of stealth.”

The disbelieving look Raine sent her was enough of an answer, really.

Now, though, they’re in Sheena’s apartment, and Raine sits at the kitchen table while Sheena attempts to make them dinner.

“Won’t you let me help?” Raine presses.

“God, no.” Sheena huffs. “It’s fine. Don’t you have something to do?”

“I could be helping you cook.”

“Something to do that won’t result in the kitchen burning?”

Raine scowls.

It’s really all in jest, though. Raine looks like she’s trying not to laugh, and Sheena shoots her a quick smile, pausing as she prepares the vegetables.

“Though, if you wanted to help with something, there are some presents that need wrapping,” she says, pointing towards a pile on the wall of the sitting room. “I’m useless at wrapping gifts.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Actually, Zelos usually does it for me.”

“Somehow, I can’t see Zelos as the type to wrap gifts very nicely,” Raine murmurs.

“He and Colette are like wrapping gods,” Sheena says, turning her focus back down to the food she is cutting. “I think it must be something people are born with. I’ve practiced, but it’s just—tedious, and frustrating.”

“Well, I can probably help,” Raine says. “Do you have wrapping paper?”

“Yeah, it’s in my room.”

She nods, then stands up to get the paper, some tape, and the presents. She settles at the table again, occupied completely by the task Sheena has given her.

Sheena finishes up in the kitchen, putting their food in the oven to cook, and then joins Raine at the table, and—

Looks at her girlfriend in exasperation.

“If you aren’t good at it, either, you didn’t need to say you could do this.”

Raine startles, turning to Sheena with a frown.

“I _can_ do it,” she insists, but the evidence is rather damning, in Sheena’s opinion.

“Let me help you,” Sheena says.

“I’m not doing that badly,” Raine protests.

“You don’t want me to say what I’m really thinking right now,” Sheena says darkly. “Let me help you.”

Raine huffs, but moves her chair over so that Sheena can pull one up beside her and sit down. She considers leaving the gifts that have been wrapped, then decides that, no, this is not something she wants to give to her friends, and unwraps them, despite Raine’s horrified look.

“Apparently,” she says, dropping the discarded paper on the floor, “two negatives make a positive.”

“Yeah, if you’re _multiplying_.”

“We’ll make it work,” Sheena promises. “Here, you cut, and then we’ll wrap it together.”

Raine frowns, but does as she’s told, and they set to work on the first gift— _again_.

It’s not easy, by any means, and the way their hands continuously brush against one another is endlessly distracting, but they eventually manage to wrap a semi-decent-looking present.

This first victory is enough to spur them forward, and they wrap the next with much more efficiency. Each wrapped present is like a little victory, which Sheena thinks should earn them a celebratory kiss (and she makes absolutely certain that she gets those, yes). They quickly lose track of time, however, and Sheena forgets about their meal entirely.

Suddenly, Raine stops wrapping.

“What is that _smell_?”

Sheena blinks, then stops to sniff at the air.

She thinks about it for a moment, eyebrows knit, and then curses, standing quickly and making her way back to the kitchen.

She _knows_ she set the timer, but—

No, she didn’t set it for thirty minutes.

Instead, the time that it says is left on it reads _248:02_.

She turns the oven off and disappointedly removes their food before moving to open the kitchen window.

“I thought you said you _wouldn’t_ set the kitchen on fire,” Raine says, amused.

Sheena sighs. “It was a mistake,” she mutters. “I just hit an extra zero, but— Fuck, I didn’t even know the timer on this thing could _go_ that high.” She looks at their ruined meal, miserable.

Raine stands and comes to stand behind her. She wraps her arms around Sheena’s waist, laughing softly.

“It’s nothing to worry about. I’ve done this enough times to know the solution.”

“Yeah?” Sheena asks weakly.

Raine pulls away, and Sheena turns to look at her. She pulls her phone out and shoots Sheena a smart smile.

“Takeout,” she explains.

Sheena lets out a short, breathy laugh. “Sounds good to me. But—next time, all right? This won’t happen again.”

“Sounds like a bit of a challenge.”

“It might be.”

Raine’s lips twitch slightly. “I’ll hold you to it, then,” she says.

* * *

Sheena’s chance for redemption comes thanks to Lloyd, who tells Zelos that he needs to get some holiday baking done. When Sheena asks Zelos _why_ , exactly, Zelos just shrugs and says, “I don’t think it’s anything he _needs_ to get done, but it may be a little Aurion family tradition that somebody only just mentioned recently.”

Lloyd’s family situation is...confusing, to say the least.

He was adopted when he was three, but when he was about seventeen, his birth father found a way to contact him, and, ever since, they’ve been trying to rebuild their relationship. The information that Dirk was left with when he adopted Lloyd was pretty sparse, but all they knew for certain was that Lloyd’s birth mother had passed away right before Lloyd was put up for adoption. Apparently, her death is what caused his father to be unable to care for him anymore.

Well, Sheena doesn’t know all the details of it, and she isn’t about to pry.

What Zelos tells her, though, is that Lloyd’s late mother was pretty into baking. Lloyd, who has only ever wanted to honour her memory, wants to do some Christmas baking, but his father told him that it was something Anna did because she loved it, and she wanted to share those memories—and some cookies, too, surely—with the ones she loved most.

“So,” Zelos explains, “he meant ‘don’t bake with me, I suck. Bake with your friends, because they don’t suck.’”

Sheena sometimes gets the feeling that Zelos isn’t overly fond of Kratos.

Given his own family background, she supposes she can’t really blame him.

But it all works out, in the end, to be Sheena, Raine, and Genis coming by to help Lloyd, Colette, and Zelos get some baking done.

She has issued her words to Raine like a challenge.

And she plans to _deliver_.

Sheena and Genis have been put in charge of ensuring that Raine won’t be trying anything _too_ “creative” with the recipes Lloyd and Colette have prepared for them (“They’re from that damn book,” Zelos whispers to her. “They’re _obsessed_.”).

They’re just sugar cookies—and, despite what Zelos says, the recipe doesn’t seem overly strange. A little vague, yes, but she supposes it’s unlikely that anybody _couldn’t_ fill in those little blanks themselves—but Sheena knows that all she _really_ needs to prove is that she can put the timer on the oven on right. They only have to be in for ten minutes, she thinks. _Not_ one hundred minutes.

“Colette and I bought these yesterday,” Zelos says proudly, dumping a very large pile of cookie cutters from a plastic bag on the counter before them.

“You bought all of these _yesterday_?” Sheena asks.

“Well, of course,” he says. “It was a fun little shopping spree, right, angel?”

“That’s right!” Colette agrees from his side. “We found so many cool shapes. Look!” She holds one up, and Sheena stares at her, dubious.

It’s shaped like a _dinosaur_.

“I thought this was about Christmas?”

“Are you trying to say dinosaurs aren’t festive, Sheena?” Zelos clicks his tongue, disapproving. “You must have awfully boring Christmases.”

“It doesn’t really make sense,” Raine says. “Dinosaurs died out long before Christ was born.”

“But look!” Colette digs through the pile, sticking her tongue out in concentration, then pulls out a very small cookie cutter, which is shaped like a Santa hat. “If we just…” She holds the hat over the head of the dinosaur, then beams up at them. “Perfect!”

Sheena, Raine, and Genis stare at her, but Zelos is laughing, and Lloyd is looking on with a fond smile.

“Well, that’s good enough, isn’t it?” Zelos asks. “Christmassy dinosaurs! Colette, you’re so smart!”

She giggles, looking rather pleased with herself, and he presses a quick kiss against her forehead.

“All right,” Lloyd says. “Let’s get started! There’s a lot to do, you know!”

They all agree quickly, splitting into their two little groups, each taking up one side of the kitchen.

“We should just use one per batch,” Genis says. “Any suggestions?”

Sheena looks to the pile on the counter, frowning. “Ah, you go ahead and pick one, Genis. It doesn’t matter to me.”

“Don’t pick something that isn’t Christmas-themed, though,” Raine says. “I’m sure those three will have that kind of cookie covered.”

Genis laughs, but steps forward to select one of the cookie cutters for them.

“So, remember how I said that I wouldn’t burn the food next time?” Sheena asks, glancing at Raine. “Well, I hope you’re ready to see the best cookies of your _life_.”

The looks Raine measures her with is one of amusement. “And what if they aren’t?”

Sheena pouts. “Then, I guess I’ll have to make some another time, but you don’t really think I’m going to _fail_ , do you?”

“You don’t want me to say what I’m really thinking right now,” Raine teases.

Sheena opens her mouth to say something else, but then Raine puts a finger against her lips, silencing her, and she hears Genis step up behind her.

“Everything okay?” he asks, tilting his head in slight confusion.

“Yep,” Sheena says. “What did you get?”

He holds up three Christmas tree-shaped ones. “Okay?” he asks.

“Looks pretty good to me,” Sheena says brightly, reaching for two of them and then passing one to Raine.

“We need to make the dough, first, though,” Genis reminds her.

She nods enthusiastically, and she and Genis get everything together and begin mixing it. Raine stays out of their way, mostly seeming to be watching their procedure, as if thinking it out. Eventually, they roll the dough out, though, and begin to cut shapes into it.

Sheena is acutely aware of how close Raine is standing, of how their arms touch here and there or of how they move around each other in the tight space that they have to work with. But she is also very considerate of Genis on her other side. He seems pretty invested in his task, but Sheena knows that the reason why she is being so careful to begin with is him, anyway.

“Sheena.”

She looks up, surprised, and her face is so close to Raine’s that their noses are almost touching.

Raine points down at the section of dough she has just cut. “You cut over my cookie.”

Sheena follows her gaze, and realizes that Raine is absolutely correct: she has cut the top of Raine’s tree off. “O-oh. Shit. I’m sorry.”

They both look up again, and there is a moment—perhaps it is long, perhaps it is short; Sheena doesn’t know, exactly—where they simply stare at each other, and then—

They burst into laughter.

Genis turns to them, looking a little annoyed.

“These cookies aren’t going to cut themselves, you know.”

“Right,” Sheena says quickly. “Back to work, then.”

But she catches Raine’s eyes once more, and she cannot shake the smile that pulls at her lips for the remainder of the afternoon.

* * *

Sheena closes the door behind her with a heavy exhale.

“I thought that would never end,” she complains.

Raine, standing just a few steps in front of her, nods. “I agree. I can’t say I ever knew Lloyd to know that many small talk topics.”

“I think he might’ve even surprised himself,” Sheena says, snickering. She slips her shoes off, then makes her way past Raine and flops down on the couch.

Raine follows her slowly, looking almost contemplative.

Sheena looks up at her, frowning. “What?” she asks.

“Well, I’m just thinking...it’s been a full week since we haven’t been out doing one thing or another,” Raine says thoughtfully. “So, let’s do something, while we have the time.”

Sheena sits up, interested. “Like what?”

Raine shrugs. “Like… you have board games or something around here, right?”

Sheena thinks about it for a moment. “Board games, no. Mario Kart, yes.”

Raine blinks.

“You’ve played Mario Kart before, right?”

“No, I don’t believe I have.”

“Seriously?” Sheena stands quickly. “Well, then, we have to play now! Just give me a second.”

She quickly sets up the console and game, then finds two controllers and directs Raine to the couch, handing her one of the controllers.

“I don’t know about this,” Raine says uncertainly.

“Don’t worry,” Sheena tells her. “It’s not that hard. You’ll have it down in no time. Now, here’s what you have to do…”

As she explains, Raine slowly becomes less concerned with her inability to play, and more concerned with a sudden desire to win at the game. By the time they’re starting (for _real_ this time), Raine has determination glinting in her eyes like diamonds.

Sheena thinks that, if she could fall for Raine again, it would probably be in this moment.

And, so distracted by the look in her girlfriend’s eyes, Sheena totally missing the beginning of the race.

“Goddammit,” she mutters, and Raine just laughs, too focussed on the controls to speak.

As it turns out, though, Raine’s determination is _not_ enough to make her a good driver, and Sheena comes in twelfth (mostly on purpose, though she’ll never admit it), right behind Raine, in eleventh.

“You’ll improve,” Sheena assures her. “It just takes some practice.”

“I hope that’s true,” Raine mutters, a dangerous tone in her voice.

Sheena laughs, though. “It is,” she promises. “Let’s go again, yeah?”

They do.

And then again.

And again,

And _again_.

They waste the rest of the evening playing Mario Kart and laughing about this and that between the game. Eventually, they both come to place higher in their races, and the game takes on a more competitive edge as Sheena stops letting Raine beat her.

By the time they stop, it is about eight at night.

“Ah, I should probably be getting home,” Raine says, frowning at her phone as she looks at the time. “Genis might be getting worried by now. I’ll see you tomorrow, though. I can’t wait to see you in that dress you bought.”

She winks.

Sheena’s face is searing, suddenly.

Raine leans forward and presses a chaste kiss against her lips, but Sheena wraps her hands in Raine’s hair, pulling her closer. They kiss shortly, though, and then Raine pulls back, laughing.

“I’m serious,” she says. “I have to get back. This was fun, though. Hopefully we can do it again soon.”

“With more kissing, next time, I hope,” Sheena says, trying for a grumpy look.

Raine nods. “With more kissing,” she agrees. “See you tomorrow!”

She makes her way to the door, slipping on her shoes and hurrying out of the apartment.

Sheena watches her go, frowning, and then stands to turn off the television and disconnect the game console.

There’s about one week until Christmas.

And then another until New Years.

Well, she’s made it this far. The rest can’t be too hard...right?

* * *

 Every year, the Bryants hold a large holiday party to celebrate the successes of the Lezareno Company, as well as to spend some time with friends and family.

Sheena can’t say she knows them _well_ , but Zelos grew up drenched in politics and business, thanks to his family name. Because of this, Sheena became his go-to date when they were thirteen, all the way until they were sixteen and seventeen, respectively. Eventually, Lloyd and Colette took her place, but there are relationships with certain people that have never really faded away, and, through some odd coincidence, Regal knows Raine—because Regal is married to Alicia, who is the older sister of Presea, who is friends with Genis—which is how they all wind up attending the Bryants’s Christmas party together.

“Ah, there’s the lovely Lady Bryant!” Zelos, for all he insists he hates these functions, is always the quickest to seek out the host or hostess.

Alicia approaches them with a bright smile, and Zelos hands her a box of chocolates.

“From Lloyd, Colette, and me, with love,” he tells her. “Happy holidays.”

“Thank you,” she says. “I’ll make sure Regal knows you gave these to us.”

“That would be wonderful. Now, I was told there would be a snack bar around here somewhere?”

Sheena resists the urge to roll her eyes as Alicia directs Zelos in the direction he needs to go, and then he drags Lloyd and Colette off with him.

“Is Presea around?” Genis asks, a hopeful edge to his voice.

Alicia nods. “She’s probably not too far from here,” she says. “I’m not quite sure where, though.”

“That’s okay,” Genis says. “I’ll go find her.”

But before he moves, he turns to Raine with a questioning glance, and she offers him a small smile and a nod. He’s gone without another word, and Raine and Sheena turn their attention back to Alicia.

“This is from us,” Raine says, passing off a small gift basket, including a bottle of wine and some Christmas chocolate.

“Oh?” Alicia accepts the gift with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t know that I was really expecting a joint gift from you two.”

Sheena swallows thickly. “W-well, just don’t tell anyone, all right? They all thought it was just from Raine and Genis.”

Alicia nods, though an odd look has crossed her face. “Well, thank you, anyway. We hope you have a good time, though. And—ah, be wary. Regal may have hung some surprises up here and there.”

She winks, then turns on her heel, gifts in her arms, and disappears into the throng of people.

“Surprises,” Sheena echoes.

Raine lifts a finger to point at something on the ceiling just a few metres ahead of them. “That, I would say.”

Sheena lifts her eyes to see what she’s pointing at, and feels something a bit like dread claw at her chest.

It’s _mistletoe_.

“Oh.”

“Well, the warning is appreciated, at least.” Raine sighs. “Nothing to do but avoid it, really. I wonder what kind of drinks they’re serving…”

She starts walking ahead of Sheena, and Sheena is quick to catch up to her, suddenly rather worried about what will happen if Raine digs up the alcohol this early in the night.

They find Lloyd, Zelos, and Colette hovering near the snacks, and Zelos calls Sheena over.

“So,” he says, “I couldn’t help but notice the decorations around here.”

Lloyd frowns at him. “What do you mean?”

“The mistletoe, dear.” He takes Lloyd’s chin in his hand, and directs the other boy’s gaze upwards.

“Oh. Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters!” Zelos says dramatically, dropping his hand from Lloyd’s face so that he can fling his arms up animatedly. “Sheena, this is the perfect opportunity for you to make your move!”

“My move?”

“Oh, he means on Raine, right?” Colette asks excitedly.

“Keep your voice down!” Sheena hisses.

“Hey, hey, let’s not argue,” Zelos says smoothly. “Anyway, of course I mean Raine. Unless you’re over that? You have been acting kinda weird with her the past little while.”

Sheena regrets ever trusting Colette with her little crush.

It was just something she mentioned months ago, but Colette—though typically pretty good at keeping a secret—has a terribly loose tongue around Zelos and Lloyd. Sheena doesn’t even want to guess at how the topic came up between the three of them. What she does know, however, is that Colette accidentally told them, Lloyd promised to keep it a secret, and Zelos just kept _teasing_ her.

“Nothing happened,” she says hastily. “No change. Nothing at all.”

Zelos raises an eyebrow at her. “Okay, then… You know, I really think you should get this paranoia thing checked out. You’re antsy about everything. Just relax, Sheena! Have a cookie.”

He turns to grab one from the table behind him, then passes it to Sheena.

“I don’t want this.”

“You need it,” he says seriously.

“...Excuse me?”

“Just trust me.”

She takes the cookie, frowning.

Suddenly, someone comes to her side, and offers her a glass of champagne.

“Oh, yeah, you’re right,” Zelos says smartly. “Sheena, you need that, too!”

Sheena takes the flute that Raine offers out to her and gives her girlfriend a small, tight smile. “Thanks,” she says.

“No thanks for me?” Zelos looks at her sadly.

Colette pats his arm, consoling.

“I’m still not even sure what this is _for_ ,” Sheena stresses.

“They’re really good!” Colette says brightly. “You should try it.”

“Agreed,” Lloyd says. “Best ones on the table, I think.”

“If you won’t take it from me, at least trust them,” Zelos says. “Anyway, we’ll see you around. Come on, you two. Let’s go see what else we can get into around here.”

Lloyd and Colette seem happy to oblige, waving to Sheena and Raine before hurrying off alongside Zelos.

Sheena sighs, but decides that all she can really do now is eat the damn cookie.

As she does, Raine looks at her in amusement. “They’re really not that young, but they act like such kids.”

“Ah, well, Lloyd and Colette basically are kids,” Sheena reminds her. “The rest of us aren’t too far off, either.”

Raine takes a long drink from her champagne, then sighs. “Well, at least I can legally drink. Let’s see what we can do around here.”

Sheena agrees, and they spend the next hour or so drifting around the room.

They see Genis and Presea, and watch them briefly, laughing at their rather awkward interactions. Presea is relatively soft-spoken, but she also very much not the type to mince words, which Sheena’s sure Genis appreciates, but is something that likely leads to some dead ends in conversations rather quickly.

They also run into Regal, who thanks them for the gift quite graciously.

“And congratulations,” he adds. “Or, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong—I just assumed, because of the joint gift…”

Sheena and Raine exchange a hesitant glance.

Sheena doesn’t _like_ lying. She’s sure that, if any of their friends had asked, point-blank, if she and Raine were together, she wouldn’t be able to say they weren’t. At least, not without getting caught. Really, people told her for years that it was a total mistake for her—honest, virtuous Sheena—to go into political sciences, but of course she didn’t listen. It was just an interesting subject, to her, and her ability to lie—or _inability_ , rather—wasn’t about to have any sway over her choice.

But it is Raine that says, “No, you’re right. We’re just trying to keep it on the down-low for the season.”

“I see,” Regal says seriously. “Well, I’ll keep my lips sealed, then.” He glances around them, eyes sticking at the door as new guests arrive. He turns to them again, offering a tired smile. “Excuse me, ladies… And if we don’t see each other again, happy holidays!”

“Thanks,” Sheena says.

“You too,” Raine adds.

He leaves, and they continue their venture around, finding the odd person here and there to chat with. Eventually, they come back by the snack bar, and Sheena sees Lloyd and Colette in the centre of the room, dancing joyously amongst a few other couples.

“Hey, Sheena,” says a voice behind them.

She jumps, and turns to see Zelos standing nearby.

He lifts a hand to point at something above her.

“You know, they say that those that don’t kiss whilst under the mistletoe will be subject to bad luck,” he says conversationally. “Well, the women, anyway, though I’m sure you both would be quick to tell me that that’s complete bullshit.”

“Because we know a stupid plant isn’t going to dictate our luck?” Sheena asks, but she feels a little sick.

Well, it’s just a dumb _tradition_ , anyway. It’s not like it means anything.

But Raine is looking up at the mistletoe with a frown.

“No, no, I meant that it only makes _women_ unlucky. And, anyway, why would anybody pass up an opportunity for a free kiss? You’d have to crazy, in my opinion.”

Sheena faces Raine again, breath bated.

Raine meets her eyes.

“Guess we have no choice,” Raine murmurs, and, before Sheena can say another word, their lips are presses together chastely.

Maybe they linger too long—maybe everyone in the room is watching it happen, too—but Sheena can’t help but feel like it’s not _enough_ as Raine pulls away from her. Desperately, she wants to bring Raine closer to her again, but she shoves the feeling down and turns away from Raine quickly, cheeks stinging.

Behind her, she hears Zelos clapping and cheering.

He is drawing the eyes of many, Sheena notices, and, if possible, her face reddens even more.

Raine takes a step back, and Sheena takes a few deep breaths, trying to still her racing heart.

“I need another drink,” Raine says, then turns on her heel to hunt one down.

Sheena faces Zelos.

He winks at her. “That good, huh?”

“You’re an ass.”

He laughs. “Thank you. Now, I think a certain somebody promised me a dance earlier, so I’ll have to let you go for now. But, if you’re wondering, there’s a door right over there”—he points to the left side of the room—“which isn’t locked, but only leads to a little janitorial room, so there’s not really anybody that would be going in there, aside from, you know, some janitor dude, if there’s a mess that needs cleaning.”

“Wh-what are you saying?!”

“Nothing,” he singsongs. “See ya, Sheena!”

And he slips by her without another word, leaving her by the snack bar, simmering in a rather painful state of embarrassment.

* * *

Sheena isn’t entirely sure how she wound up here.

This party has been going on way too long, and her lips continue to buzz with the feeling of Raine’s against them, and, dammit, she _hates_ hiding, and she hates that they’ve been busy the last week or so, and Raine is wearing this gorgeous blue dress with a somewhat low neckline, and maybe Sheena just doesn’t have any fucking impulse control, but it’s all driving her _crazy_.

Though she hates it when Zelos is right, and most especially when Zelos is right about _this_ kind of thing, she leads Raine to the left side of the room.

“What are you doing?” Raine questions her, but she doesn’t answer, instead just watching the crowd carefully.

Genis and Presea are exactly as they were before, sat at a table on the other side of the room, and Lloyd and Zelos are dancing together, while Colette stands to the side and happily cheers them on. God knows where Regal and Alicia are, lost somewhere in the throng of all their guests, but Sheena supposes it doesn’t even really matter about them, anymore, anyway.

She leads Raine into the room Zelos told her about, closing the door behind them softly yet quickly, then feels around for a way to turn the light on.

“Sheena?” Raine asks into the darkness, and then Sheena finds the switch, flicking it up quickly and then turning to Raine, stomach churning.

Instead of replying, she takes a step closer and pushes their lips together with a force she doesn’t think she ever _has_ before.

Raine makes a small noise of surprise against her mouth, then quickly moves to reciprocate the kiss, her hands reaching up for Sheena’s hair. Sheena almost lets her, and then her brain vaguely recalls that that would be a bad idea, and she reaches a hand up to swat Raine’s away.

“Careful,” she murmurs. “Don’t ruin my look. It’s a secret, right?”

Raine stares at her, wide-eyed, chest rising and falling shakily. “A secret,” she repeats. “Y-yes, that’s right…”

They’re on each other again in an instant, sloppy kisses between breathless laughs and careful touches, trying their damndest to keep their appearances in place. They are already very close, but Sheena pushes herself closer, until their chests are pressed against each other firmly, and Raine’s bent back slightly, gripping at the wooden shelf behind her for some stability.

There’s arousal building in Sheena’s abdomen like a goddamn fire, and she knows that they shouldn’t go too far—not here, not like this, and certainly not so early in their relationship—but every part of her _wants_ to do more than this, and it is this line of thought which spurs her to bring a hand down to slip beneath the fabric of Raine’s dress and brush her fingers over her girlfriend’s soft skin, drawing a squeak from the woman’s mouth.

Raine is almost _luminescent_ , even beneath the poor lighting in the closet. There’s a dusting of pink over her cheeks, and her lips part against Sheena’s, soft and warm. If Sheena could save just one memory for the rest of her life, it would be the image she has of Raine now, that look in her eyes, the heat on her skin. Everything _sears_ , in the best way possible.

She brushes her hand over Raine’s thigh.

Raine shivers beneath her touch.

It would be enough to get drunk on, Sheena thinks. This feeling—she’s not entirely sure if anything could really _stop_ it, now, and she’s not saying she wants to fuck Raine, exactly, not saying that she wants to see Raine undressed and aroused against this gross janitorial closet shelf, but—

Raine’s hand finds her wrist, pulling it out from beneath the dress, and, suddenly, they are not kissing anymore.

“This probably isn’t a good idea,” Raine manages, words a little breathy.

Sheena pulls herself away slightly, heart hammering.

“It—it’s your fault,” she complains. “That—stupid _mistletoe_ , and this stupid _dress_ , and—”

“You think my dress is stupid?”

“Yes— _No_! Not the dress.” Sheena shakes her head. “It’s just how it makes you look!”

“...Stupid?”

“No!”

Raine frowns at her.

“L-listen, I mean, like, _this_.” To enunciate her point, her hands reach for Raine’s chest, and then, slowly, she registers that, rather than proving something, she is simply cupping Raine’s breasts in her hands.

She drops them, face burning.

Raine doesn’t seem overly bothered, but she doesn’t look any less confused, either.

“It’s— I’m making this sound so _bad_. I just mean—it’s like you’ve been _trying_ to drive me crazy, and you know I’m really, really bad at keeping a secret, and—”

Raine leans forward suddenly, and silences her with a gentle kiss.

“Well,” she says, pulling away, “the janitor’s closet may have been a tad dramatic, but I can’t blame you.” She sighs. “But now you’ve made me feel all…”

“Hot and bothered?” Sheena offers.

Raine makes a face. “For lack of better term,” she allows. “But...is it really bothering you so much?”

“I…”

“Be honest.”

Sheena looks away from her.

“Should I take that as a yes?”

“Maybe it’s a little frustrating,” Sheena admits.

“A little?”

Raine takes a step closer to Sheena, and Sheena stumbles back slightly, not expecting it. Her butt hits the wall, and she winces, but has no time to focus on it as Raine stands directly in front of her, and places her hands gently over Sheena’s hips.

“A lot,” Sheena finally says, looking up to meet Raine’s eyes.

“It’s not like I wanted things to be uncomfortable for you,” Raine murmurs. “You could’ve told me.”

“W-well, I’m not _weak_ ,” Sheena protests. “I guess I just had to prove that I could do it.”

Raine lets out a snort of laughter. “It bothers me, too, Sheena. I just didn’t want to say anything, since you were so dedicated to it, and I’d already insisted.”

Sheena stares at her.

“I don’t know if it’s worth hiding if it’s making us both miserable to do,” Raine continues. “We can find a way to make it all work out, right?”

“That’s an oddly optimistic thing for _you_ to be saying.”

“Maybe it’s just something about the season.” Raine sighs, dropping her hands. “What do you say, then? Should we just give it up?”

“Have either of us really given up on anything?” Sheena wonders.

“Definitely not. But there should be a first time for everything, apparently. And...as much as I value Genis’s state of mind, I value yours, too, and I have this feeling like yours is a little more at risk than his.”

“As in…?”

“Well, it’s just a chance that it will bother him.” Raine shrugs. “It’s already bothering you. I don’t want to be the reason you have an awful Christmas and New Year.”

“You could never do that.”

“Really?”

Well…

Raine offers her a small smile, then steps back and takes a moment to adjust her clothes.

“Shall we?” she asks, straightening and offering Sheena a hand.

Sheena looks at it for a moment, hesitant, then nods and reaches a hand forward to intertwine their fingers.

Together, they step out of the janitor’s closet.

The party is still just as active as they had left it, but Sheena immediately notices that there’s someone that’s seen them.

It’s Zelos, standing just a few metres away from them, on the opposite side of a decorative Christmas tree, peering at them around its piney edges.

He catches her alarmed gaze, and they have a bit of a staring contest.

(Sheena wins.)

Zelos lets out a heavy sigh, then stands. For a moment, Sheena thinks he is going to approach them, and then he turns on his heel and jogs the other way.

Sheena stares after him, slack-jawed.

Raine doesn’t seem to have noticed, though. She’s busy surveying the rest of the room, looking rather thoughtful.

She catches Sheena looking at her, and says, “Do you want another drink?”

“I’m beginning to think you may be on your way to alcoholism.”

“It’s a party, isn’t it?” Raine sighs. “Do you want one or not?”

Sheena glances towards where Zelos disappeared, then turns back to Raine. “Sure,” she says. “Thanks.”

Raine walks away from her without another word, and she focusses on searching the crowd for Zelos—or even Colette or Lloyd or Genis. She hopes he isn’t going around spreading _rumours_ or something, like some gossipy high schooler, but she has a pretty bad feeling about it.

She spots him, though, before Raine is even on her way back, and she hesitates a moment, unsure if she should really just leave Raine like that, but she decides that dealing with Zelos may be a little bit more important right now.

She hurries towards him, and catches him, unsurprisingly, at the snack table.

“Hello, there,” he greets. “Hey, have you tried one of these cookies? They’re—”

She narrows her eyes at him.

He laughs. “Okay, come on, Sheena, let’s just play nicely. I can keep a secret, you know! It’s not like we all totally knew already, anyway, and I was just trying to set you up the whole time because we were sick of things or anything like that.”

“...What?”

“Oh, did I just say that? Oops! Oh, look, I see Lloyd and Colette, so I should—”

Sheena grabs his arm before he can walk away.

He turns to her with a pout. “You know, it’s _not_ just me. Well, okay, Colette and Lloyd didn’t exactly notice anything, but Genis is way smarter than you guys were giving him credit for. He totally had it figured out. I was just looking for an excuse to let it get out, you know? Lying is bad, Sheena!”

“Says you!” Sheena snaps. “So, what, you’re telling me you all knew about everything all along?”

“Well…” He thinks about it for a moment. “Yes, sort of. Not _all_ along. I figured it out weeks ago, though, because that’s, like, my area of expertise. I’m a total love connoisseur, right?”

“Right,” Sheena says disbelievingly.

“I knew you’d agree!” Zelos says brightly. “So, yeah, I told Lloyd and Colette, and they were all ‘No way! Why would they not tell us?’ and they were _so_ sad—you totally broke their poor little hearts, Sheena. Just think of all the sad, sleepless nights they spent over it.”

Yeah, _right_.

“And Genis got it a bit ago, too, I think,” Zelos continues. “He asked Lloyd about it last week or something. He said it was funny, really, that Raine thinks she can hide things from him. He’s twelve, you know? He’s snoopy.”

“I wasn’t snoopy when I was twelve.”

“Well, you’re a weirdo, so that’s a moot point. _Anyway_ ,” he says, “the point is that you have nothing to hide, so you should stop _trying_ to hide it. Hey, I think Genis was hanging around Presea, still, over there. Hope that closet was good to ya.” He gives a little wave, then makes his way past Sheena.

She watches him, disoriented, and then sees someone else approaching her.

Raine comes to stand in front of her, a frown stretching over her face.

Sheena secretly thinks that Raine frowns too often.

Raine hands her a flute of champagne, and she takes it without a word. They simply watch each other for a moment, and then…

“Have we really been so bad at hiding things?” Sheena asks.

Raine looks away from her, but Sheena still hears the heavy sigh she gives.

“Raine?”

“I don’t know.”

Sheena says nothing.

Raine looks to her again, and tries for a small smile. “Do you know where Genis is?”

“Zelos said he’s still where he was last we saw him.”

Raine nods. “Let’s go talk to him,” she suggests.

Sheena looks down at her drink for a moment, then up to Raine again.

“Yeah,” she says. “Sounds good.”

Raine leads the way, and they stop before the same table that Genis and Presea have been at all evening. As they get closer, the two stop talking, and look up at Raine and Sheena.

“Are we interrupting?” Raine asks.

“No,” Presea tells her. “Do you need Genis for something?”

“Not really,” Sheena says. “We just wanna talk.”

“Ah, okay.” Presea glances at Genis. “I’ll go, then. See you around, Genis.”

“Yeah, you too.”

She stands and offers a small smile to Raine and Sheena. “Merry Christmas,” she says, and the slips away before either of them can say anything.

They watch her go, and then Raine sighs shortly and takes her seat. Sheena sits down beside her, and they both turn to Genis.

And there is silence, for many long, painful seconds.

And then Genis says, a little smartly, “I already know, for the record.”

Raine opens her mouth, and then closes it again.

For the first time in her life, surely, Sheena sees Raine looking completely and utterly _speechless_.

“How?” Sheena asks. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

“Well, I don’t know… Lloyd and Colette seemed to be watching you both really closely, so I started looking, too. And, anyway, I think I know my sister pretty well. It would be hard to miss it if she was in love with someone.”

Sheena looks to Raine, heart pounding.

Raine’s cheeks are quite red, she notices.

“W-who said anything about love?” Raine asks weakly.

“You didn’t need to say anything.” Genis tilts his head slightly, frowning. “Unless I’m wrong?”

Sheena watches Raine very carefully.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re wrong or not,” Raine finally says. “I just want you to know that we’re together.”

“But why were you keeping it a secret?”

“Well, because of you, obviously.”

“Me?”

“Wouldn’t want to ruin your holidays,” Sheena says. “Doesn’t it weird you out?”

Genis shrugs. “A bit, I guess. But it’s not like it’s a huge deal. If it bothered me that much, I wouldn’t say it, anyway.”

“What?” Raine leans forward, eyes flashing oddly. “Why not?”

“Well, your happiness is important, too,” Genis points out. “You already do a lot for me as it is. I’m not that much of a kid that I’d throw a fit over something as normal as you being in a relationship, you know.”

He sounds a little indignant, Sheena notes with a small twitch of the lips.

“Even if it’s with someone you know through your friends?” Raine presses. “Someone that _you’re_ friends with?”

Genis shakes his head. “Well, we’re not that close or anything, right? Anyway, it doesn’t bother me, so there’s nothing to worry about. Just don’t be gross or anything, and it’s whatever.”

“Oh,” Raine says. “I—I see.”

“I’m going to go get some food,” Genis says, standing up. “Really, don’t worry about it, Raine. Do you want anything?”

“N-no, that’s all right,” Raine says. “Thank you, though.”

Genis shoots Sheena a questioning look.

She shakes her head, then watches as he turns to go towards the snack table.

After a moment, she turns to Raine.

“So, I guess we didn’t do as well as we thought, huh?” Raine asks. Her lips twist slightly, almost as if she finds it funny, but Sheena knows that it’s likely a defeat in Raine’s mind.

But…

“What Genis said,” Sheena speaks up. “Is that...true?”

Raine looks away from her, cheeks growing somewhat pink again.

“Raine?”

“Y-yes,” Raine finally says, still not looking at her. “It’s true.”

“Oh,” Sheena breathes out. “Well, I love you too, you know.”

There is a moment.

Just one moment.

Sheena holds her breath, chest twisting, and then Raine turns to her again, and the moment falls away around them in an instant.

And Sheena laughs.

She can’t help it, really. Maybe it isn’t funny, exactly, but, right now, it’s just about the funniest thing that has ever happened to her.

Slowly, Raine’s lips twitch up into a smile, and she lets out a short chuckle, too.

“I honestly thought it was for the better,” Raine says. “How was I supposed to know that things would turn out like this?”

“No kidding,” Sheena says. “I don’t think I mind, though.”

“No,” Raine says, and then, to Sheena’s surprise, leans forward and presses a chaste kiss to her lips. “I don’t think I mind, either.”

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are always appreciated! xx


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